Entries in Healing Journeys
(13)

In November 2010, we shared the story of Connie Weiskopf's introduction to the unconditional love of God and how the Lord had touched her life. The story chronicled the guilt and condemnation that had plagued Connie for decades, revealing that since her adolescence Connie's life had been anything but carefree. Over the span of time shared in the story, she had been raped multiple times, terminated three pregnancies, and had gone on to battle breast cancer as an adult. But, after her introduction to Jesus and Andrew's teaching, Connie's life was transformed.

Today we are happy to share a video update to Connie's story. Last summer, Andrew had the opportunity to sit down with the Weiskopfs at the Healing Journeys Reunion held at The Sanctuary. Watch the video below as Connie and her husband, David, share with Andrew, in their own words, the miraculous turnaround they have witnessed in their own lives and the lives of many others as a result of receiving the Gospel Truth.

The Mullins family December 2009. (Click to enlarge)Mike and Aster Mullins live with their family in Buncrana, Co. Donegal, Ireland, the home of the famous hymn, Amazing Grace. In September of 2009, they welcomed their fourth son into the world. Their new baby, Andrew, was the Mullins' fifth child, and from the beginning, Aster considered him her victory baby.

In December 2010, Mike and Aster noticed something was bothering Andrew. Their 15-month-old was behaving strangely; he was not eating well, he was losing weight, and he had begun banging his head. Troubled, the Mullins had Andrew examined by their family doctor, and they found that Andrew had infections in both ears. The doctor prescribed antibiotics, and the Mullins went about their business—off to Holland to celebrate Christmas.

When they returned to Ireland after Christmas, Andrew was still not well and Aster noticed a small lump on his back. Aster holds Andrew. The marks on Andrew's back indicate where the lump was to be examined..(Click to enlarge) When she saw it, she was gripped with fear.

The Mullins called their doctor again and brought Andrew in for another consultation. He arranged an appointment with the pediatrician in their local hospital. In hindsight, Aster remembers trying hard to pacify Andrew during that meeting instead of letting the doctor see the full extent of his tantrums and unsettled behavior. The pediatrician examined Andrew but did not see an urgency to scan him. About a week later the Mullins received a letter for an appointment to scan Andrew sometime in mid march.

About two weeks later, Mike and Aster noticed that Andrew looked scrawny, and they also noticed that one of his legs was hot to the touch, while the other was very cold. Once again, they brought him to their local general practitioner who was both surprised and shocked that Andrew hadn’t Andrew was diagnosed with a very aggressive type of cancer.(Click to enlarge) yet been scanned. He immediately made arrangements for the Mullins to go straight to their local hospital to get scanned as a matter of urgency.

Aster packed a bag, just in case Andrew would be kept overnight, and brought their son to the hospital for the scan. That Monday Andrew was examined and admitted to the hospital, where they scanned him on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, after a consultation with staff at Crumlin Hospital in Dublin, Ireland's largest pediatric facility, Andrew was immediately transferred to Crumlin, where they did more scans, urine tests and examinations.

On February 25, 2011 the Mullins were told that Andrew had a very aggressive form of cancer called, High Risk Neuroblastoma. He was already at stage four and had a tumor measuring 7cm x 8cm x 21cm. Andrew was just 17 months old.Andrew, seen here receiving treatment while in Mike's arms, was signed up as part of a European trial for children with Neuroblastoma. (Click to enlarge)

The Mullins, stunned by the news, found their lives turned upside down. They were thrust into a world filled with cancer jargon and terminology and put on a very steep learning curve. Aster said it felt like Andrew had been given a death sentence—like she had already lost her littlest boy.

On the following Monday, Andrew underwent further testing and preparation for treatment including the insertion of a catheter into his neck. This special catheter would be used to receive chemotherapy, blood products and a protocol of treatments that would last almost a year and a half.

Bone marrow tests and further, more invasive, scanning of Andrew's body revealed that he had over 90% cancer in his bone marrow, and that the disease was in every bone of his body apart from his hands and his feet.

Mike set up a Facebook page to mobilize people to pray for Andrew.(Click to enlarge)As they turned to the God they knew for help, they began to pray and plead for healing. In an effort to mobilize as many people as possible to pray for his son, Mike immediately set up a Facebook page for Andrew. The page brought nearly 5000 people together to "storm heavens gates" on Andrew's behalf. Their battle raged.

Three weeks after Andrew was diagnosed, Aster gave birth to their sixth child (four weeks premature). They named their baby girl, Grace.

Among the mail the family received after Grace's birth, was a parcel which included Andrew Wommack's teaching Baby Grace next to her big brother, Andrew in the oncology department. (Click to enlarge)series, God Wants You Well. "The title, funny enough, really didn't do it for me at all. At the time I was so raw, I thought, yeah right, what do I have to do for that?" recalled Aster. She and Mike put the teaching on a shelf—literally—for months.

The Mullins were (and still are) grateful to all of the nurses and doctors, who treated Andrew with love and dedication, but after nearly six months of rigorous cancer treatment, and thousands of prayers and prayer meetings, Andrew's progress was slower than expected, and both Mike and Aster were worn down. There had to be more than this, they thought. "Do I have to beg God to have mercy on my child? Do I, as a human being, have Friends sent the Mullins Andrew's teaching series, God Wants You Well, but the Mullins were so raw, they were unable to get past the title. They put the CDs on a shelf. (Click to enlarge)more compassion than God does," Mike wondered. Their prayer life changed at that point, from prayers begging God to help, to prayers asking God to teach them to pray.

Both Aster and Mike were exhausted. Self admittedly, they were in survival mode. Mike, as tired and frustrated as he was, didn't want to be in survival mode, he wanted to be in more-than-a-conqueror-mode. He also wanted to know what the Bible had to say about healing. It was at this low point, when the Mullins were on their way to Dublin for another round of chemo, that they finally listened to the first disk of the God Wants You Well series. Something in the message resonated deep within their hearts. "Wow, water to my parched, During a trip to Dublin for more treatment, the Mullins decided to listen to Andrew's message God Wants You Well. (Click to enlarge)parched, dried out soul," Aster declared.

"Although we had never heard this before, it was as if we had," said Mike with regard to Andrew's teaching. As the two listened and re-listened to the series they became convinced that it is always God's will to heal and that He did want their son well. “We don’t have to storm Heaven’s gates, God is not the oppressor, nor was He using Andrew's sickness to teach us a lesson,” realized Mike. They continued downloading and listening to Andrew's teaching, and they were transformed by rightly discerning the Word of God.

The Lord used Andrew's teaching to steer the Mullins back to the promises in the Word, teaching them that it is always His will to heal.(Click to enlarge)God used Andrew's teaching to point the Mullins back to His Word where they found promises to stand on for their son's healing. "We found promises in the Word of God, such as in the book of Proverbs (15:30) where it says good news brings health to your bones." said Mike.

After their eyes were opened to the Truth, they went to their son, and laid their hands on him with confident expectation. "We put our hands on his thigh bones and his pelvis and we said, 'Bones, we've got good news for you, By His stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24). And in faith, with a total conviction in my heart, we spoke that Bible verse standing on the Word of God," said Aster.

The Mullins rejoicing (Click to enlarge)After their prayer, Andrew was tested to see if he had made any progress. To the hospital staff's surprise, he had. The Mullins' consultant called and she said, "I don't know how to tell you this, but everything regarding Andrew is up in the air." To which Mike inquired, "Is it up in the air good or up in the air bad? She said, "It's up in the air good. Every one of Andrew's bones are completely clean of cancer... We really didn’t expect this."

While the news was unexpected by the doctors, it wasn't a surprise to the Mullins. "We had learned how to pray with authority, and it worked," said With Andrew's bones clear, the Mullins went after the last remaining bit of cancer, near his spine. Mike, Aster and Mike's sister spent time listening to Andrew's teachings and visiting the AWMI website for encouragement, then they went after the cancer with the Word. (Click to enlarge)Mike.

Andrew still had active cancer near his spine, and due to its location, it was inoperable. As Andrew went in for continued treatment, Aster asked the Lord for something more. After the victory in Andrew's bones, she felt they were finished using scriptures about bones—she asked the Lord for another weapon.

Faithful as always, the Lord showed Aster the story of Ehud (Judges 3:12-25). Through this passage, Aster saw her weapon revealed; she saw Ehud's double-edged dagger as the Word of God, and she thrust her dagger into the remaining cancer. As they gathered to lay hands on Andrew, Aster prayed, "Cancer, Neuroblastoma, I've got a message from God for you...By His stripes, Andrew is healed." Aster left that word of God there in Andrew's belly, not adding anything Aster asked the Lord for another scripture to use as a weapon against the remaining cancer. God faithfully took her to the book of Judges and gave her what she asked for—a double-edged sword.(Click to enlarge)else to it because she saw in the Scriptures that Ehud did not remove his dagger from the king's belly. She knew that in the end, the medical team would find that Andrew's cancer, like king Eglon, was dead on the floor. Her conviction that nothing could stand against the Word of God gave her confidence that her son would be completely cancer free and unaffected by the vicious treatment medications, the side effects of which, can also be devastating.

After treatment, when Andrew was tested again for cancer, and for any damage caused by the treatment, his results came back perfect; there was no sign of cancer or damage to any of his Andrew, completely cancer-free, playing on the beach in Buncrana—the shores on which, the lyrics of Amazing Grace were written. (Click to enlarge)organs. His eyesight, hearing, heart, lungs and both kidneys were perfect.

The Mullins chose to believe what they had learned from Andrew Wommack, the truth about God—that it is always His will to heal—always. The Mullins' victory, and revelation of God's amazing grace has brought them a freshness, excitement and confidence in the love and goodness of God. Today, they regularly visit and pray for the sick and have seen many healed.

As for Andrew Mullins, Aster said, "He is full of life... It's fantastic to see him very active, very playful and very happy."

For a more intimate look at the Mullin's Healing Journey, be sure to watch the video below.

The McDermott Family: Christopher, Deborah, Timothy and James. (Click to enlarge)It was a perfect Monday morning when Christopher McDermott held his newborn son, Timothy, for the first time. Although the two had met only moments before, a bond of love was already forming. Christopher wanted only the best for his son, and at that moment, he couldn’t imagine anything that would keep him from it.

Any thoughts Christopher and his wife, Deborah, had of Timothy being a “perfect” baby quickly faded when they discovered that their child was completely inconsolable. “He’d scream and scream as though he was in pain, but the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with him,” Deborah shared. As new parents, the McDermotts didn’t know what to expect from a newborn, so they just assumed that most children were like Timothy.

Aside from his fussiness, Timothy seemed, to the McDermotts, to be perfectly normal and happy—at least for his first few years. “When Timothy got older, we realized that he wasn’t a happy boy,” said Deborah. “He was very nervous and anxious all the time.”

Timothy and his Dad.(Click to enlarge)Problems escalated when Timothy was about nine. He had been homeschooled up to that point because the McDermotts were afraid he would be diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder if he was sent to school. “He couldn’t even sit still to eat,” recalled Deborah. “He would run around the table, take a mouthful, then run around the table again."

The McDermott’s second child, James, also proved to be a difficult baby; yet, unlike Timothy, he was happy. “We suddenly realized how different it was to have a child who was bubbly and would look people in the eye,” said Christopher.

Matters became worse for Timothy after James arrived, as his parents had less time to devote to him. The McDermotts enrolled Timothy in a small, specialized school, which they thought could help him. Instead, it only magnified his problems. Timothy began having nightmares about drowning, he lost weight, and he stopped growing. He then started having storms, where insignificant issues would cause him to fall to pieces. Timothy would engage in head-butting doors or the floor, or punching himself as a result of his distress. He also had no coordination, which caused simple things like writing to be a major challenge. The McDermotts had no choice, but to take Timothy out of school and seek professional help.

Deborah and Timothy(Click to enlarge)When James was about eighteen months old, he too began having his own issues. “James always had a few odd things [about him], but not enough to cause concern,” recalled Deborah. “But then he stopped talking and communicating, and then he stopped wanting people to look at him…he became bothered with lights, and then he stopped eating his food [if it wasn’t the perfect texture and just right].”

At the suggestion of Timothy’s therapist, the McDermotts also had James evaluated. He was diagnosed with developmental delays, behavioral issues, along with obvious impairments that are on the autistic spectrum. At this point, Timothy had already been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, and now James had the possibility of the same diagnosis. Christopher and Deborah came face-to-face with the reality that, against all odds, they had two children with serious disabilities.

“One day, when I was really down, I turned on Christian programming on television,” recalled Deborah. “Mothers were talking about their kids and proudly showing off their pictures... And it just hit me, what I was really experiencing with my own family. I felt so alone and deserted. I yelled out to God, ‘Why don’t You help us?’ I had been asking Him to help for years, and I was angry. I believed it was God’s fault because I had been taught that He was sovereign. I said, ‘I love my boys so much, and You’re supposed to love them more than me...’ I told Him, ‘I Deborah and James(Click to enlarge)would die for my boys.’ He said, ‘I already did.’ I was so stunned that I just shut up.”

Then Deborah continued her conversation with God, “You did die, but what difference does it make in our situation?” God simply replied, “I’ll heal your sons.” Deborah’s faith leapt, and in her heart, she immediately believed that her sons would be okay.

One day as Deborah was praying, her mother, who lives several hours away, phoned to tell her to turn on the Gospel Truth. She immediately tuned in and watched the story of Hannah Terradez, whom God miraculously healed of a life-threatening disease. “As I watched that day, faith rose inside of me,” recalled Deborah. “I thought, Yes, Andrew’s talking about my God!” Christopher looked up Andrew Wommack Ministries on the Internet, and to the McDermotts’ surprise, discovered that Andrew would be in Walsall—a two-hour drive—in two weeks.

Over the next couple of days, Deborah and Christopher diligently researched both AWM and Hannah. They were blessed and amazed by what they learned, and knew in their hearts that this was God’s answer to their cry for help. They also knew that it would take a miracle just to get to Walsall with their two boys, who didn’t do well with car rides or unfamiliar surroundings.

Deborah consoling James.(Click to enlarge)To further prepare their hearts, the couple began watching Andrew every day, bought as many of his books as possible and downloaded teachings from Andrew's website. Their faith grew to believe God for what He said they already had. Deborah’s next step was to call Andrew Wommack Ministries of Europe and alert them to their situation. “The woman I spoke with said, ‘If you can’t get them out of the car, we’ll send a prayer team to you.’ Then she prayed in a way that I had never heard before. She was authoritative and thanked God that it was already done. I hung up and thought, This is really going to happen,” Deborah said.

The two weeks leading up to the trip tested the McDermotts’ faith to its limits. Timothy cried with anxiety whenever the trip was mentioned, and when the day came to go, he physically fought getting into the car. But Deborah recited to God His promise and refused to back down. As the family drove, both boys settled in and became calm—even cheerful. The miraculous was already happening.

As an additional step of faith, once the McDermotts arrived at their hotel, they ate next door at the same KFC where Hannah ate right after God healed her. Both boys—who, for their entire lives, were not only severely restricted with what they ate, but also had to have their food prepared in particular ways—ate their fill of popcorn chicken and fries. God continued to answer the family’s prayers with one miracle after Timothy and James have been completely healed. (Click to enlarge)another.

During a break at Andrew's meeting, Deborah and Christopher waited in line with their sons so Andrew could pray for them. The line was long, and before their turn came, Andrew announced that it was time to return to their seats. Completely deflated, Deborah began weeping. She couldn’t leave without Andrew praying for them. Just then, someone grabbed her arm and thrust her right in front of Andrew. That someone was Paul Flanagan, former director of Charis Bible College-West Midlands.

Christopher said, “Deborah quickly told Andrew about our situation, and without hesitation, he simply rebuked autism and commanded healing into our boys. Then he blessed us as a family and thanked God that we would fulfill God’s plan for our lives. He then said something we will never forget: He told us that we were now the parents of normal, healthy children.”

James and Timothy.(Click to enlarge)“I remember hearing that as if the whole world went quiet, and it was just these words hanging there,” added Deborah. “For me, it was Jesus talking to me, and it was a promise. I knew Andrew was right. We left and went to McDonald’s, where the boys ate like I’ve never seen them eat before.”

From the first day the McDermotts arrived home, the transformation they witnessed in their sons was remarkable. That night, the entire family experienced their first night of peaceful sleep since the day James was born—five years earlier.

Deborah and Christopher watched in awe of God’s power as James continued to sleep through the night, month after month and year after year. The same miraculous change occurred in Timothy. “It was as if Timothy was covered in scales of autism,” says Christopher, “and over time, those scales were peeled away to reveal the amazing boy that he is today.”

Deborah attributes the miraculous changes in her boy's health to God’s word of healing that He spoke to her and to Andrew’s teaching, which helped her rightly understand God’s will for healing. “When I watched Andrew, he seemed to be talking about the God that I knew… not the other one that everyone else seems to talk about,” explained Deborah.

Mother and son(Click to enlarge)Deborah felt that God led her to Andrew’s teachings so He could teach her what she needed to know. For nearly six months Deborah only listened to Andrew, and in that time, her questions were answered. "The teachings that helped me most were Spirit, Soul & Body, You’ve Already Got It, and God Wants You Well. Through these, I finally understood how I had been wrongly taught about the sovereignty of God,” said Deborah. She realized that if she had continued believing incorrectly, her boys would not be healed today because she would’ve thought that their conditions were God’s will for them.

Once Timothy and James were healed, the McDermotts took them both back to their psychologists for another evaluation. Timothy's new diagnosis reads, Timothy is a “neurodevelopmentally typical young man, and the label of Asperger’s syndrome is not applicable.” He was discharged from the doctor’s care. Likewise, James’s official report now reads, “...it is clear there has been significant progress over time in all areas associated with the triad of impairment with autism. As a result, the label, Autism Spectrum Disorder, is no longer appropriate for James and should be removed from any documentation in the future that relates to him.”

Father and son(Click to enlarge)Deborah and Timothy have begun the CBC correspondence course together and are hoping to one day attend CBC as full-time students. “From there, we’ll see where the Lord guides us,” says Deborah. “But for now, we are gaining a solid foundation through the correspondence course.”

The McDermotts’ present reality and hopes for the future are far removed from how life used to be when Timothy and James were young children. Deborah remembers when she could only imagine a life of normalcy, “I used to dream about all four of us going out to dinner and not worrying about anything… just like a normal family. I used to dream about going to the cinema and eating popcorn and watching a movie together. We had never done these things before. But, just as I had imagined, we went to the cinema, and we bought the popcorn. We are a normal family, and I am the mother of normal, healthy children—just like Andrew said.”

For a more personal look at the McDermott's miracles, be sure to watch the video below.

Adapted from the Healing Journeys article, The New Normal: From Autism to Awesome, originally printed in the Spring/Summer 2013 edition of Andrew Wommack Ministries Gospel Truth magazine.